It was a relief to take turns in the Cleaner. Sep donned a fresh uniform and looked, once again, like the decisive officer she was. There now remained only a short time to wait before going to their assigned posts.

Jarlik had brought one of his uniforms for "Hannes". For a wonder, it fitted the Prince fairly well, and he now looked to be a veteran officer, as, indeed, he was.

At the appointed time, they moved out in orderly fashion, joining the ranks of Mech Warriors assigned to duty for this important occasion. Only four were mounted on their 'Mechs. This was a formal occasion, not a battle, and the big machines took up space better assigned to officials and nobles from the city.

As Ardan took his place behind the dais, he stepped behind Jarlik. Standing near the podium, the false Hanse Davion never glanced at him. Nor did he bat an eye at the big fellow in the slightly tight uniform beyond him.

Ardan felt a rush of suppressed excitement. There would, indeed, be an unexpected announcement today in the gardens of the Palace on New Avalon.

34

The chronometer ticked forward, its dial nearing the midday hour. Seated beside the podium, the Prince nodded to the Maître of the Household on New Avalon. That worthy signalled, and the gates opened. A brilliandy clad throng surged into the space beside the gardens.

Ekkles, the aide, rose. His electronically enhanced voice quieted the buzz of conversadon below, but Ardan was watching Hanse, who had moved forward to stand just in view of the imposter. As Ekkles was introducing Hanse Davion, the false Prince looked up. He turned pale.

Even as Ekkles gestured toward him, offering at the same time a sheaf of notes, the imposter pitched forward in a dead faint. A concerted gasp rose from the throats of the multitude. Ekkles bent over his fallen ruler, turning pale in his turn.

The court doctor stood. "Clear the courtyard! There will be no announcement at this time!" he shouted. The guard moved forward to obey him, and Ardan found the opportunity to beckon to Efflinger and two of his attendants.

He guided them around the outside of the palace and through a private door he had often used to visit Hanse. Then he heard voices from the Prince's chambers, which lay some distance down the corridor. Tense voices, straining to be quiet.

"You are a fake!" came Hanse's familiar tones. "I am Hanse Davion, and this is an imposter placed here by a conspiracy originating among our enemies."

"Arrest this man!" came another voice, in a near shout. "He is concerned in the plot I was about to expose...a plot against the Federated Suns. He is a danger to us all! Arrest him!"

Ardan drew his sidearm and went through the door in a rush. Ref and Jarlik had drawn their own weapons and were facing the four guards. It took only a moment to disarm them.

In the chamber were Ekkles, the doctor, the members of the Guard, and, to Ardan's surprise, three of the most eminent members of the New Avalon Institute of Science. When he moved, he saw that Efflinger, too, had joined the group, his usual languid manner touched with interest.

Ekkles was breathing hard, his gaze darting from the stymied Guards to the doctor, who was bending over the false Hanse, and then on to the ruddy-haired man in Guard uniform, who was regarding him with suspicion tinged with disgust.

There came a thunderous rap against the side of the building, and Ardan could see, through the glass doors, the legs of a WarHammerstanding outside, trampling the shrubbery into shreds. Seeing that the thing could smash through the glass with the slightest tap of its massive toe, Ekkles moved to open the doors.

"There is, indeed, a conspiracy here," said Sep through her ‘Mech's speakers. "I call for minute examination of both claimants."

The Maître, who had bustled into the room, gazed up at the huge machine standing before the doors, and he almost fainted. Before he could speak, another voice was heard.

"I quite agree." It was a cool voice, rather lazy, but precise. "I suggest that we compel both claimants to undergo all the standard physical tests, in order to determine which is the rightful Prince." Efflinger stepped from behind Ardan and stood beside the two identical Davions.

"You cannot interfere in the internal affairs of New Avalon," protested Ekkles. "You represent Steiner, our enemy..."

"Since when? And by whose representations?" the ambassador asked. "For years, House Steiner and House Davion have recognized many common interests and have worked toward mutual aid and prosperity. Then, without warning and certainly without any action on the part of Katrina Steiner, the Prince of Davion has declared us to be enemies. Has anyone noted any instance that might prove it to be true?" He looked at Ekkles, at the doctor, and at the Maltre.

He pointed toward Ardan. "There stands Ardan Sortek, who has been the closest friend of the Prince since his childhood. He has suffered from suspicion and innuendo, after reporting seeing a double of his old friend in the Liao headquarters on Stein's Folly. Ask him which is the real Hanse Davion."

Ardan stepped to stand beside Hanse. Being so near the false one, he found him dizzyingly like the true one, yet there were differences. Perhaps only he could have detected them...the small scar above the left eyelid made by a stone gone astray in a game of slingshots, many years before ...the tiny white line where a furious bird had attacked the boys searching for birds' nests near her chicks.

He laid a hand on Hanse's shoulder. "This is the man I accompanied into the dungeons of the Summer Palace on Argyle not many weeks ago. Only the aid of friends in the Guard broke us free and allowed us to return home to expose this impersonation."

Ekkles was confused, angry. He spluttered, "Do you suppose that I, the Prince's own aide-de-camp, can possibly be misled? This man is our ruler. These two, for whatever treasonous purpose, are conspiring to unseat him in order to weaken the Federated Suns in a time of peril!"

Efflinger, his attendants now standing very close to him, stared arrogandy at the aide. "Make the tests. What can that damage? Who will be hurt by such an eminendy sensible course of action? If the man who now rules is an imposter, it will mean that our Houses will NOT be at war. If he isthe true ruler, then war will be the inevitable outcome of his policies.

"Not simply the rulership of a world is at stake here. There is war hanging in the balance. Do you truly want your House to be at odds with every major power in the Inner Sphere?"

The three doctors from NAIS moved forward together. "Test them," said Doctor Shali, the most eminent doctor of biological medicine in that group. "It will be easily done, and without arousing suspicion among the people. Bring them both to the private laboratories in the lower level of this palace. Send for technicians. They are vowed to secrecy in many matters, and this will be only one more. We will, ourselves, oversee this testing."

Ardan glanced at the faces of the Guard members who had not known what was happening. They looked puzzled. But one or two were staring at him, then at Ekkles, and their expressions were no longer those of men entirely convinced of the right way to go.

Ekkles could not refuse. To do so would be stupid, and he had never been that He gave in with as much grace as he could summon.

"As this matter should not be bruited about—no matter what its outcome—we should, I believe, keep the entire question among those now involved, and those Techs who will conduct the testing. Will you Doctors of the Institute serve as observers? Will the Ambassador also consent to do that? And will the Guard who are now present swear never to reveal in any way what is happening here, on pain of death?"